Completing Your Utah Advance Health Care Directive
How do I make my Advance Health Care Directive legal?
Utah allows your Directive to be oral or written. In order to make your Directive legally binding,
it must be witnessed by a disinterested adult, which means your witness can have no interest
in your estate or benefit from your death. If you are physically unable to sign the Directive, you
may arrange for someone to sign it in your presence at your direction.
Your witness cannot be:
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The person who signed the Directive on your behalf,
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Related to you by blood or marriage,
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Entitled to any portion of your estate,
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The beneficiary of your life insurance policy, trust, qualified plan, a pay on death account
or transfer on death deed,
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Entitled to benefit financially from your death,
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Entitled to a right to or interest in your personal property upon your death,
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Directly financially responsible for your medical care,
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A health care provider who is providing care to you or an administrator at a health care
facility in which you are receiving care, or
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Your appointed agent or alternate agent.
Whom should I appoint as my agent?
Your agent is the person you appoint to make decisions about your health care if you
become unable to make those decisions yourself. Your agent may be a family member or a
close friend whom you trust to make serious decisions. The person you name as your agent
should clearly understand your wishes and be willing to accept the responsibility of making
health care decisions for you.
You can appoint a second person as your alternate agent. The alternate will step in if the first
person you name as an agent is unable, unwilling, or unavailable to act for you.
An agent may not be a health care provider for you, or an owner, operator, or employee of a
health care facility at which you are receiving care unless the agent is related to you by blood,
marriage, or adoption.
Can I add personal instructions to my Advance Health Care Directive?
One of the strongest reasons for naming an agent is to have someone who can respond
flexibly as your health care situation changes and deal with situations that you did not
foresee. If you add instructions to this document it may help your agent carry out your
wishes, but be careful that you do not unintentionally restrict your agent’s power to act in
your best interest. In any event, be sure to talk with your agent about your future medical
care and describe what you consider to be an acceptable “quality of life.”